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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: FINANCE MINISTER <office---m900@att.net>
Reply-To: moneygram_moneytransfer2011@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2011 19:02:28 -0800 (PST)
Subject: URGENT RESPONSE IS NEEDED FROM YOU TO PROCESS YOUR PAYMENT




ATTN:BENEFICIARY,

HOW ARE YOU TODAY TOGETHER WITH YOUR FAMILY? THIS IS FROM MONEY GRAM OFFICE, WE JUST DISCOVERED YOUR EMAIL AND YOUR NAME AMONG THE PEOPLE WE ARE TO TRANSFER THEIR WINING PRIZE OF THE TOTAL SUM OF THE $2.8,MILLION DOLLAR FOR SECOND CATEGORIES, BUT BEFORE WE COULD PROCEED WITH THIS WE WANT YOU TO RECONFIRM YOUR INFORMATION TO US IN OTHER TO AVOID TRANSFERRING YOUR MONEY TO WRONG PERSON, KINDLY DO THAT AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS EMAIL TODAY TO ENABLE US EFFECT THE TRANSFER OF YOUR MONEY IMMEDIATELY.

MEANWHILE IF YOU DO NOT REMEMBER THE MONEY WE ARE TO TRANSFER TO YOU, THIS MONEY HAS BEEN WITH US FOR THE PAST 2YEARS NOW DUE TO THE LITTLE PROBLEM WHICH WE ARE TRYING TO SOLVE BEFORE SHARING THESE PRIZES TO THE OWNERS. YOUR EMAIL WAS AMONG THE EMAIL THAT WON THE 2YEARS AGO LOTTERY WHICH WE ALWAYS ORGANIZE ONCE IN A YEAR HERE IN OUR MONEY GRAM DEPARTMENT BENIN REPUBLIC.

TAKE NOTE OF THIS AFTER THREE 3 DAYS IF WE DID NOT RECEIVE YOUR EMAIL YOUR MONEY WILL BE TRANSFER TO OUR G.V.T,IF YOU DON’T ACT FAST.

PLEASE RECONFIRM YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION BELOW!!!

1,YOUR FULL NAME………
2,YOUR COUNTRY NAME……..
3,SEX……..
4AGE…………..
5,OCCUPATION………………….
6,A COPY OF YOUR ID………………
7,YOUR DIRECT PHONE NUMBER…………

CONTACT OUR HEADQUARTER WITH THE BELOW INFORMATION TO ENABLE US ACT AS WE STATED TO YOU.

FOREIGN OPERATION MANAGER
REV.PETER DESMOND
EMAIL(moneygram_moneytransfer2011@hotmail.com)

YOURS IN SERVICE
FINANCE MINISTER
BENIN REPULIC PORTO NOVO


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